advertised as fast, multi-mission vessels that can operate in shallow coastal waters and be a building block of the U.S. fleet — came under fire this past week from a government watchdog group and a San Diego County congressman.

On Monday, the Project on Government Oversight called on Congress to cancel one-half of the ship class, based on what it calls a history of design problems and equipment failure.

The Washington, D.C., watchdog group dispatched a letter to the Senate and House armed services committees that thrashes the LCS program. The first 16 littoral ships are scheduled to be assigned to San Diego. The second is slated to arrive next month.

The littoral program is split into two ship versions: The Freedom, a mono-hull variety designed by Lockheed Martin, and the Independence, an aluminum trimaran by General Dynamics and Austal USA.

The Project on Government Oversight’s “position has long been that only one of the LCS variants is necessary, and that the current dual-development is a corporate subsidy we can’t afford. As a result, we have recommended eliminating one variant to save taxpayer dollars. Now, based on the new evidence we have uncovered, we recommend that the more expensive and severely flawed Lockheed variant be eliminated,” the group’s letter said.

The Navy and Lockheed Martin counter that the design and equipment problems are old issues that already have been addressed.

“The Navy is reviewing the concerns mentioned in the letter, however, nearly all of these issues were well-reported and have been corrected as warranted. Additionally, the Navy has worked closely with the operational test and evaluation community to address their concerns. USS Freedom is a first-of-class ship, and it is expected the Navy will discover and correct issues as they are identified. This is not unique to LCS, but standard for all first-of-class ships. We are fully confident that LCS 1 and the rest of the class will perform as designed,” Christopher Johnson, a spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command, said in a response.

A Lockheed spokeswoman said it’s typical to work out problems in the first ship of a class.

“Any issue that has arisen in the development, testing and usage of this lead ship has been, or will be, addressed to ensure she and future Freedom-class ships meet or exceed the Navy’s needs,” Lockheed’s Dana Casey said.

On Thursday, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, asked the Navy secretary to give a full briefing on the littoral ship program to the House Armed Services Committee this year. Hunter, a critic of the new ship class, sits on the committee and on its sea power subcommittee.